The Human With A Haunted Heart
by newbienovelistRD
Summary: Miranda's looking forward to spending Friday Fright Night with her best friend Vampirina! But the night really takes a turn with monstrous guests and a magic necklace!


It was Friday night, the beginning of the weekend. Weekends were regarded as one of the greatest times for leisure, especially for teenagers. During the weekend, most teenagers sleep in, watch TV, go to the mall, hang out with friends, or do all of the above.

But one high school student named Miranda was heading to a very special place; the same place she visits every weekend and some weeknights when a babysitter was needed.

It was the Scare B&B. Most people think it's just a haunted themed hotel. But very few people knew the truth; the Scare B&B was a real haunted house with all kinds of spooks inside. Ghosts, skeletons, werewolves, talking gargoyles.

But most of all, vampires. A family of vampires called the Hauntleys.

Ever since Miranda met the Hauntleys, she felt like an honorary member of the family. Sometimes she wasn't called in to do babysitting, she would stop by and play with Vampirina Hauntley and help around the house if needed.

Miranda couldn't have asked for better friends anywhere in the world.

After pressing the screaming doorbell, the door opened by itself and Miranda stepped inside. "Hello!"

A rush of blue raced down the stairs and embraced Miranda in a big hug. "Miranda!"

"Hey, Vee!" Miranda hugged her little vampire friend back. "What's up?"

"Oh, not much." Vee smiled, swaying back and forth with her hands behind her back. Miranda could tell from Vee's body language that she was up to something.

"Okay, what's going on?" Miranda asked playfully.

Heavy footsteps boomed suddenly. The house shook with every step. Miranda tensed up when a shadow cast over her. "Vee, there's something monstrous behind me, isn't there?"

Vee shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe..."

A finger tapped Miranda on the shoulder. She flinched and was about to scream when she blinked with realization. "Wait! Don't tell me! It's Wolfie, isn't it?" Miranda asked, calming down. "He got into the milk again, hasn't he?"

"Ruff! Ruff!" Wolfie pranced from the kitchen and sat next to Vampirina.

Miranda started to whimper. If Wolfie was there in his cute puppy form, then who or what was behind her?! She slowly turned around and saw a tall, lumbering man with a green complexion. A huge stitch went across his forehead and his head was bolted to his neck.

**"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"** the monster roared.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Miranda screamed, falling on her backside and scrambled over to hide behind Vampirina.

"Good one, Frankenstein!" Vee gave the green monster a thumbs up.

"Frankenstein?!" Miranda blubbered.

Frankenstein let out a jolly laugh. "Who knew I still got it after all these years?"

"Whoa!" Miranda came out of hiding. "Y-You're the REAL Frankenstein?!"

"In the Franken-flesh!" Frankenstein smiled. "You must be Miranda! Vampirina told me a lot about you!"

Miranda couldn't believe it! The real Frankenstein was standing right in front of her!

"It's a pleasure to meet you." The famous monster offered his hand. Miranda saw the large stitch that went all around his wrist. Miranda kindly shook the monster's huge hand.

"Wow! Good grip!" Miranda smiled to hide her shock. The monster's grip was stupid strong!

"Honey!" A woman came from out of the basement. She had a slimy green face and wore a white robe and skull slippers. Wiry strands of black, light, blue, and dark blue hair poked from out of her hair net.

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Miranda screamed again.

"Ooh! What spine-chilling screams!" said the frightful woman. "I could hear them all the way from the spooky spa!"

"Now that's scary! Miranda said. She quivered fearfully.

"Oh! A human!" said the woman. "Were you making all those lovely screams?"

"Uh, y-yes, Ma'am." Miranda said numbly.

"Miranda, this is the Bride of Frankenstein." said Vee.

"Really?!" Miranda's jaw dropped. "Vee, how do you know Frankenstein and his bride?!"

"They had their wedding here at the Scare B&B a couple of weeks ago!" Vee answered. "I was the ring bearer!"

"What?! You mean they JUST got married?!" Miranda exclaimed. This was more surprises than she anticipated in one night. "Man! Nobody tells me nothing!"

"Well, it's wonderful to meet another human who's also a friend of Vampirina's!" Frank's bride shook Miranda's hand. Miranda yelped when some of the slime from the monster's face dripped off and fell on Miranda's hand.

"Oops! Sorry about that!" Frank's bride chuckled. "Guess I used too much frog slime face mask!"

"Frog slime?!" Miranda couldn't help but gag as she wiped the slime on her jacket.

"So, what brings you here, Miranda?" asked Frankenstein.

"Oh! I'm here because Vee and I are having our Friday Fright Night!" Miranda said. "It's a thing we do every other Friday. We get together, tell scary stories, and have all kinds of spooky fun for a good scare!" She looked around. "Where's Poppy and Bridget?"

"They couldn't make it." Vee admitted, looking sad. "Poppy's visiting her grandparents and Bridget has a cold."

"Aw! Bummer!" Miranda's shoulders slumped. "Guess it's just the two of us."

"Make it four!" Frankenstein put his foot forward, making the floor shake. "Girls, if it's alright with you, we can join you in your Friday Fright Night!"

"Really?! You don't mind?!" Vee asked, smiling her fangs out.

"Not at all!" Frank's bride said. "It sounds like lots of fun!"

"Frankenstein and his bride for Friday Fright Night?! This is too cool!" Miranda was ecstatic. "What should we do first?"

Frank's bride snapped her fingers. "I know! Why don't we play Dead Man Dancing?"

"That's a great idea, Honey!" said Frank.

Vee gasped. "You guys have Dead Man Dancing?! I love that game!

"Dead Man Dancing? What's that?" asked Miranda.

"Come on! We'll show you!" Frank said as he went to the stairs.

* * *

In the guest room, Frankenstein showed Miranda and Vee a small coffin shaped box. "This is Dead Man Dancing." He pressed a button on the side of the box. To Miranda's amazement, the coffin grew wider and taller! Frank set it against the wall and took a few steps back.

The coffin opened and Miranda gasped when a skeleton walked out.

"So, Miranda. The rules are simple. Music will play from the coffin and the skeleton will start dancing. We have to mimic the same moves the skeleton does. But if you slip up, you're out! And the last one standing wins!" Frankenstein explained.

"Awesome! Let's do this!" Miranda cheered.

Gregoria walked into the room. "Do what?"

"Oh! Hey, Gregoria!" said Vee. "We're playing Dead Man Dancing! Wanna join?"

The talking gargoyle smiled. "Does a witch have warts? Count me in!"

"You can dance, Gregoria?" Miranda asked.

"Sure! I may have feet made of stone, but I can still dance circles around you!" Gregoria playfully challenged with a snap of her fingers.

Miranda laughed. "Oh, you are going down! Let's make it interesting!"

"Now you're talking!" Gregoria replied.

"Don't tell me you guys are making a bet again!" said Vee.

"It's all in good fun, Vee!" Miranda replied. "Okay, Greg! Loser has to...um..." She tapped her chin, deep in thought.

"Dust the living room!" said Gregoria.

Nodding with a confident smile, Miranda stuck her hand out. "You're on!"

Gregoria blinked. "Huh?"

"What's wrong?" asked Miranda.

"I thought I saw..." The gargoyle rubbed her eyes. "Never mind. Must be seeing things."

"Okay, gang! It's time for Dead Man Dancing!" Frank pressed another button on the coffin and joined the others.

Spooky yet catchy music played and the skeleton started to dance! Everyone followed along as it danced.

"This game is awesome, Mr. Frankenstein!" said Miranda as she danced.

"You bet! It's not only fun, it's the perfect exercise a monster needs!" Frankenstein did a jump, as did everyone. Soon, their dancing was shaking the whole room! But everyone was too busy having fun to notice!

"Aw, yeah! I am gonna CRUSH this!" Miranda cheered. Everyone did one huge jump, which caused a big hole in the floor!

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Miranda screamed as she fell down the hole.

"MIRANDA!" Vee screamed. She rushed down to the living room to see dust billowing everywhere. Boris, Oxana, Demi, and Chef Remy came running out.

"What in the name of Transylvania is going on?!" Oxana blurted out.

"You guys scared me half to life!" Demi blubbered.

Chef Remy was rattling with fright. "If I had a heart, it would have burst through my chest!"

Frankenstein and his bride came downstairs. "We're sorry, folks! We were playing Dead Man Dancing and well...we danced too hard!"

"Where's Miranda?!" Vee rushed into the living room. Her panic grew when she saw Miranda had fallen through the living room floor as well!

"MIRANDA!" All the monsters rushed to the basement.

"Miranda! Are you okay?!" Vampirina called out. She suddenly stopped and let out a sharp gasp. Everyone else froze and gasped as well.

"I'm okay, guys!" Miranda said, walking toward them. "That didn't hurt as much as I thought." She saw everyone gawking at her. They all stared at Miranda like she just grew a second head. "What's with you guys?"

It took everyone a while to get over the shock. "Uh...Miranda." said Gregoria. "You, uh...you-uh...you-"

"YOU'VE TURNED TO STONE!" Demi blurted out. "LOOK IN THE MIRROR!"

Miranda turned to a standing mirror next to her and screamed. Her body was solid grey stone. Even her clothes were stone! "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! I'M MADE OF STONE?!" Miranda felt her cheeks and touched her hair. They were all hard as rock. "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!"

"Maybe a wicked troll cast a spell on you!" Demi guessed. "Or you drank a quick drying cement potion by mistake!"

"But Demi, I was flesh and blood just a moment before I fell!" Miranda pointed out. "How could I have changed to stone all of a sudden?!" Miranda shifted uncontrollably. "Something's poking me under my shirt!" Miranda managed to pull out her haunted heart necklace from under her stone shirt.

Frankenstein gasped. "Is that the haunted heart necklace?!"

"Huh? Yeah, Vee's grandma gave it to me." Miranda looked at the necklace. "What the-?! How come the necklace hasn't turned to stone?! It looks the same!"

"That's beause it's the cause of all this!" said Frankenstein. "A haunted heart necklace is an amulet that bewitches whoever wears it!"

"Bewitched?!" Miranda squealed. "Vee! Your grandma gave me a bewitched necklace?!"

"Miranda! Calm down!" Vee coaxed gently. "I'm sure Nan wouldn't give you that necklace if she knew it was bewitched! Maybe she forgot it was bewitched!"

"But I don't want to be stuck like this forever!" Miranda buried her face in her stone hands. "I want to be myself again!"

Suddenly, the necklace glowed and Miranda's body shimmered with a red glow. When it faded away, she was back to her old self!

"Miranda! You're back to normal!" Vee gasped.

"I am?" Miranda looked at her hands. "I AM!" She hugged herself. "Oh, I missed you, sweet, soft flesh!"

"How did you change back?!" asked Remy.

Miranda shrugged. "I don't know. I just closed my eyes and imagined myself human again!"

"Maybe that's what ended the spell!" said Gregoria. "But why would the necklace make you stone like me?"

"Hmm..." Miranda looked at Gregoria and she put the pieces together. "Maybe...when I shook your hand when we made the bet, that activated the necklace's power. And when I fell...and panicked...that's when I was bewitched and turned to stone!"

Gregoria gasped. "So I wasn't seeing things! When you shook my hand, I saw the amulet glow! That probably explains it!"

"So...if I touch a monster while wearing the necklace, I become that monster!" Miranda looked at her hand.

"Maybe we should do a field test before making any assumptions." said Gregoria.

"Good idea." said Miranda "Chef Remy! Front and center!"

The skeleton blinked in surprise. "If you say so..." He approached Miranda.

Miranda took a deep breath. "Okay, here goes..." She put out her hand and reached. Miranda was nervous, what if a simple hand touch made her an actual skeleton?! To be on the safe side, Miranda poked Remy in the ribs. The skeleton giggled as the rib poke tickled him.

Once Remy waw touched, Miranda closed her eyes and envisioned herself as a skeleton. When she opened her eyes, she was still human.

"It didn't work!" said Vee.

"C'était bizarre." said Miranda. She gasped and covered her mouth.

Remy gasped as well. "Miranda! I did not know you speak French!"

"Mais je ne peux pas! Je n'ai jamais appris le français avant! Il vient de sortir!" Miranda said. "Ai-je même savoir ce que j'ai dit? Oui, j'ai fait. Mais pourquoi est-ce que je parle français?"

Dead silence filled the room.

"Any idea what she just said, Chef Remy?" asked Vee.

"Well, to make it short, Miranda never learned French yet understands what she's saying. But why? Hmm..." Remy pondered over this.

"Maybe she didn't touch Remy long enough." Gregoria guessed. "Miranda shook my hand hard and long. And Miranda only gave Remy a poke. So instead of being a full-on skeleton, she only picked up Remy's ability to speak French. Miranda, concentrate on speaking English again."

Miranda closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened her eyes. "Hello?" She gasped with glee. "I'm speaking English again! Woo-hoo!" She smiled at her haunted heart necklace. "I could get used to this!"

"Now, hold on, Miranda!" said Boris. "Let's not get carried away! What you've got there is a powerful artifact! I should hold on to that amulet and call Mom about it!"

"What?! But you can't!" Miranda retorted. "This necklace was a gift from Nan! And I promised her I would always wear it!"

"That was before you knew that necklace was bewitched!" Gregoria pointed out. "You should listen to Boris and give up that thing!"

Seeing the pleading look on everyone's face. Miranda didn't put up a fight. She sighed in defeat. "Okay." She tried to remove the necklace, but she couldn't undo the clasp. She tried a few more times, but couldn't do it! "Guys! I can't get it off!"

"What? Let me see." Oxana tried to undo the necklace clasp, but it wouldn't budge. "Sweet bat cakes! I think it doesn't want to come off!"

"WHAT?! It won't come off?!" Miranda started to panic. "Oh, man! This necklace is more haunted than I thought!" She tried pulling it over her head, but Miranda's head was too big.

"Stand back, everyone!" Frankenstein marched right up to Miranda. "If this necklace is putting up a fight, then I'm gonna fight it back!" The big green monster put his hand on the chain and the other on the amulet. "Okay, Miranda. I'mm going to break the amulet right off the chain!"

Miranda swallowed a little. "O-Okay, just be gentle! This thing's around my neck!"

"I will." Ready as he'll ever be, Frankenstein tugged at the amulet, but it didn't come off. He pulled harder, but still no. But Frankenstein wasn't giving up. "Alright, no more Mr. Nice-enstein." He gripped the amulet with all his strength and pulled his absolute hardest.

As he pulled, a red light peeked through the monster's fingers and his hands started to shake. Miranda's panic was rising again. She took his hands in an effort to stop him, but it was too late.

**BOOM!**

Miranda and Frankenstein were thrown back by a strong force between them. Miranda groaned as she sat up. Her shirt was covered with sparkling red dust and tiny glass shards.

Miranda's jaw dropped when she saw the amulet broke off the chain.

"Uh..." Frankenstein opened his hand to find crumbled pieces of the haunted heart amulet. "I think I broke it."

"YA THINK?!" Gregoria snapped.

"Well...at least it's off." Boris said. Everyone gave him a look, making the fathery vampire shrink a little. "I'll get the broom." He and Oxana went upstairs.

"And we better do something about the holes in the floors." saie Gregoria. She, Demi, and Chef Remy headed upstairs.

Frankenstein's heart broke seeing Miranda's saddened face. "Miranda! I am so sorry! I have Franken-monster strength! Please forgive me. How could I be so...so..." His neck bolts sparked with remorse.

"It's okay, Frankenstein." Miranda replied. She stood up. "I'm not mad at you."

"Y-You're not?! But that necklace meant a lot to you!" Vee said.

"Vee, it's just a necklace." said Miranda. "And Frankenstein didn't break it on purpose. He was only trying to help. Besides, that necklace had to come off at some point." She smiled. "To be honest, I'm glad it's off!"

"Oh, thank you, Miranda!" Frankenstein held Miranda in a big monster hug. "No human's ever been this nice to me before!"

"Thanks!" Miranda wheezed out. "Can't breathe!"

"Oops! Sorry about that!" Frankenstein gently set her down. "So, who's up for more Dead Man Dancing?"

"Um, polite pass." Miranda said. "Not after that fall."

Frankenstein blinked. "Oh, right. I know! How about some Franken-tag?" He stretched his arms out and growled. "I'm coming to get you!"

"Here comes the bride!" Frank's bride said in her spookiest voice.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Miranda screamed playfully as she ran away from the couple. "The monsters after me!" She and Vee laughed as they ran out of the dungeon as the monsters playfully chased them.

Miranda was going to head upstairs. She grabbed onto the knob of the stair rail tightly. It broke off like a toothpick. "Whoa!" Miranda gently set the knob down.

Vee caught up with her. "You okay, Miranda?!"

"Yeah, but old house is falling apart!" Miranda said. "Maybe we should lead the Frankensteins outside where we can play tag."

"Good idea." Vee followed Miranda to the back door and the Franken-monsters followed.

It truly was a bewitching night for Miranda.


End file.
